There are many commercially available corn harvesting apparatuses available on the market, as for example, a self-propelled John Deere Model 7700 Combine with a Model 645 corn header. Generally these prior art corn harvesters are capable of harvesting corn from four or more rows. The corn harvesting apparatus usually is removably attached to the forward end of a self-propelled vehicle so that the vehicle can be utilized for other purposes, as for example, harvesting and threshing wheat and baling alfalfa.
The corn harvesting apparatus of the prior art includes a plurality of forwardly directed snouts having snapping rolls located therebetween so that the snouts can travel between the rows of corn stalks, thereby causing the stalks of corn to be drawn between the snapping rolls, whereupon the ears of corn are pulled from the stalks and subsequently transferred into a lateral conveyor.
The conveyor transports the ears of corn into the interior of the harvesting apparatus whereupon the ears are shucked, the kernels of corn removed from the corn cob, the shelled corn transferred into a storage hopper, and the shucks and corn cobs are ground, shredded, and redeposited on the field as a mulch.
During the growing and harvesting season there are many critical periods of time when the farm is potentially profitable at one moment and potentially bankrupt at another merely because of the whims of nature and fate. Probably the most critical moment for the corn farmer is that time immediately preceding the harvest operation when one can observe vast quantities of corn standing beautiful and upright in the field, but alas this person may awaken the next day to discover the stalks of corn lying haphazardly about in disarray because wind and rain has descended upon the heretofore beautiful field of corn consequently tangling and tearing the stalks into complete disarray. This situation causes a tremendous loss in yield because many of the stalks are left lying on the ground, while other stalks have been left broken and can no longer be properly manipulated by the snapping rows, so that the ears of corn cannot be removed therefrom. Further, other stalks will subsequently become broken loose from the root system during the snapping operation. The above loss in yield because of ears of corn left lying in the field can sometime equal or exceed all of the farmer's profit for his entire years work.
Therefore it is advantageous to be able to combine still another mechanical apparatus with the corn harvesting apparatus wherein the two mechanisms complement each other in such a manner that the broken and fallen stalks are picked up and guided into the snapping rolls or directly into the lateral conveyor so that substantially all of the corn grown in the field is passed through the harvester and saved. This new combination of elements is especially desirable at this particular time in history when farm help is exceedingly difficult to obtain because of the many poverty programs and the farmer must therefore resort to mechanized expedients if he is to continue to feed both the parasites as well as the workers of our nation.
Heretofore, long before the present invention was divulged to those skilled in the art, the operator of a harvesting machine occasionally would be forced to stop his machine in the field, climb out upon the corn harvesting apparatus, and rake broken stalks of corn, weeds and other interfering materials into the lateral conveyor before the machine could efficiently proceed with the harvesting operation. From time to time an operator has slipped and fallen into the lateral conveyor where he is conveyed into the interior of the harvester, or caught by the snapping rolls. Such a bizarre accident usually results in fatalities. The present apparatus eliminates the necessity of the operator ever being forced into this dangerous situation.